Two train stations in Tokyo are being given Harry Potter makeovers, giving one a look-alike of King’s Cross Platform 9 3/4 and the other set to be based on Hogwarts.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the Seibu Railway conglomerate, which said (in Japanese) that both Ikebukuro Station and Toshimaen Station, in Tokyo, will be renovated, with the aim being for the work to be finished by 2023.

The revelation comes after it was announced last summer that construction had begun at the Nerima Ward in the Japanese capital, which is set to host a permanent Harry Potter exhibition and museum.

The area already boasts popular picnic areas under cherry blossom trees and it was announced last summer (August 2021) that construction had officially started on the ‘Warner Brothers Studio Tour Tokyo – Making of Harry Potter’ on the site of the now closed Toshimaen theme park in western Tokyo.

Seibu Railway said: “Ikebukuro Station will go to Studio Tour Tokyo where you can enjoy the charm of filmmaking, with Platforms 1 and 2 being renovated”. It added that the platforms would make reference to “‘King’s Cross Station’ in London, England”.

King’s Cross Station is famously known as the fictional location for Platform 9 3/4, where Harry, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Grainger board the train to the magical school of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books, written by J. K. Rowling, 56, and the films that are based on them.

And Seibu Railway added that “at Toshimaen Station, you will be able to get closer to the world of movies by descending to a red-based platform reminiscent of ‘Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'”.

It is currently unclear if this is a reference to Hogwarts castle proper or to Hogsmeade Station, located in the village of Hogsmeade, not far from Hogwarts castle.

Harry and his friends typically arrive to start the new school year at Hogwarts at the book’s fictional Hogsmeade station, that is, when he and his pal Ronald Weasley are not flying the latter’s dad’s Ford Anglia into the school’s Whomping Willow after Dobbie the house-elf stops them from crossing the magical barrier to Platform 9 3/4.

Seibu Railway also said: “Together with Warner Bros. Studios Japan GK, which operates Studio Tour Tokyo, we will work to revitalise the area around Toshimaen Station toward the opening of Studio Tour Tokyo, where construction work is proceeding smoothly.”